Stanley Tucci says he tried to break up with wife Felicity because of their 21-year age gap
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Stanley Tucci is opening up about how he nearly broke up with his now-wife Felicity Blunt because he was concerned about their 21-year age gap.
The Searching for Italy star, who first met Felicity after starring in The Devil Wears Prada with her sister Emily Blunt, revealed during a recent episode of BBC Radio's Desert Island Discs that he was "afraid to get into a relationship" after his first wife Kate Tucci's death in 2009.
"I kept trying to break it off," he said about the early days of his relationship with Felicity. When asked why, Tucci explained, "I'm 21 years older than she is and I didn't want to feel old for the rest of my life! But I knew that this was an incredibly special person."
Karwai Tang/WireImage Felicity Blunt and Stanley Tucci
Despite his initial reservations, the couple went on to tie the knot in 2012 and share two children together: son Matteo and daughter Emilia. Tucci is also dad to twins Isabel and Nicolo and daughter Camilla from his first marriage.
During the interview, Tucci praised Felicity's ability to be a supportive figure in both his life and the lives of his children. "Felicity has been so incredible, taking on a widower and three children whose mother died. That's a huge thing at a very young age too," he said. "If anybody made things better for all of us, it's her. She's the one."
The Spotlight actor also opened up about his "horrible" experience battling oral cancer at the same time that he and Felicity were expecting their daughter in 2017.
"It was horrible for everybody. Felicity was pregnant with Emilia and so we went to New York to have the treatments done," he recounted. "Millie was born in the same hospital — I remember walking over to the delivery room and I was there and then she had the baby and then I was like, 'That's such a beautiful baby. I have to go to bed now.' And then I left, but Emily was there and yeah, it was really, really hard. It was a terrible, terrible time."
The experience changed his perspective on life. "It humanizes you," he said. "I wasn't fully aware of my mortality, even after Kate's death and so many friends have passed away from cancer or whatever. I just didn't… now I get it."
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
